Amazon in censorship row

An ebook which is supposed to be a guide for paedophiles has gotten Amazon into a censorship row. The booktitled The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure by Phillip R. Greaves is available on Amazon for Kindle for $4.75. It claims to be a guide of insight and conduct for engaging in paedophilia.

Some customers, who are not seeing Amazon's bigger picture, are trying to arrange a book banning campaign. They want to start a boycott of Amazon until it does what they say.

While the book is about as silly and slimey as you would expect, Amazon has refused to delete it from its stores. The outfit does not want to get into a position where it has to censor every book because someone takes offence to it. Amazon told TechCruch that it believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. “Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decision.”

The shopping site, however, does object to “offensive material,” including porn. This particular clause is often used by the religious right in the US to try to get Amazon to ban books that it does not like. It has not been particularly successful.

Here is a list of books that various groups have asked to be banned in the past. Alas, When a Tree Falls by Nick Farrell was not on the list, even if it is heretical.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'EngleBrave New World by Aldous HuxleyBridge to Terabithia by Katherine PatersonCanterbury Tales by ChaucerCarrie by Stephen KingCatch-22 by Joseph HellerChristine by Stephen KingCurses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel CohenDeath of a Salesman by Arthur MillerDecameron by BoccaccioEast of Eden by John SteinbeckHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. RowlingI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouJames and the Giant Peach by Roald DahlLady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. LawrenceLeaves of Grass by Walt WhitmanLittle Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm GrimmLord of the Flies by William GoldingLysistrata by AristophanesSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Living Bible by William C. BowerThe Shining by Stephen KingThe Witches by Roald DahlThe Witches of Worm by Zilpha SnyderThen Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume